Johannesberg, June 05: It wasn’t a big game by local standards. St John’s versus the National Youth Congress in a friendly. It didn’t even merit a mention on the chalkboards of the nearby video shacks – the barometer of status in the football-mad slums of Nairobi, the capital of Kenya and East Africa’s most populous city.
The climax of La Liga (football league) in Spain had top billing at Stamford Bridge – not the opulent west-London home of Chelsea FC but a one-room hut with a television, a tin roof and exposed wiring in the deprived and dangerous Korogocho slum. Outside, on a mud pitch, sodden from unseasonal rains, one player stood out from the kick-and-rush contest. Wearing number 16, Peter Odhiambo appeared to have more time on the ball. His superior control brought occasional calm to a game which was otherwise a flurry of speed and sinew. While teammates called out to each other by nickname – screaming for “Joe Cole”, “Messi” or “Nemanja” to pass the ball –Peter, known only as “Captain”, languidly directed the play.
–Agencies